From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bedbug \Bed"bug'\, noun (Zo["o]l.) A wingless, bloodsucking, hemipterous insect ({Cimex Lectularius}), sometimes infesting houses and especially beds. See Illustration in Appendix.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bug \Bug\ (b[u^]g), noun [OE. bugge, fr. W. bwg, bwgan, hobgoblin, scarecrow, bugbear. Cf. {Bogey}, {Boggle}.]
1. A bugbear; anything which terrifies. [Obs.]
Sir, spare your threats: The bug which you would fright me with I seek. --Shak.
2. (Zo["o]l.) A general name applied to various insects belonging to the Hemiptera; as, the squash bug; the chinch bug, etc.
3. (Zo["o]l.) An insect of the genus {Cimex}, especially the bedbug ({Cimex lectularius}). See {Bedbug}.
4. (Zo["o]l.) One of various species of Coleoptera; as, the ladybug; potato bug, etc.; loosely, any beetle.
5. (Zo["o]l.) One of certain kinds of Crustacea; as, the sow bug; pill bug; bait bug; salve bug, etc.
Note: According to popular usage in England and among housekeepers in America around 1900, bug, when not joined with some qualifying word, was used specifically for {bedbug}. As a general term it is now used very loosely in America as a colloquial term to mean any small crawling thing, such as an insect or arachnid, and was formerly used still more loosely in England. ''God's rare workmanship in the ant, the poorest bug that creeps.'' --Rogers (--Naaman). ''This bug with gilded wings.'' --Pope. [1913 Webster +PJC]
6. (Computers) An error in the coding of a computer program, especially one causing the program to malfunction or fail. See, for example, {year 2000 bug}. ''That's not a bug, it's a feature!'' [PJC]
7. Any unexpected defect or flaw, such as in a machine or a plan. [PJC]
8. A hidden electronic listening device, used to hear or record conversations surreptitiously. [PJC]
9. An infectious microorganism; a germ[4]. [Colloq.] [PJC]
10. An undiagnosed illness, usually mild, believed to be caused by an infectious organism. [Colloq.]
Note: In some communities in the 1990's, the incidence of AIDS is high and AIDS is referred to colloquially as ''the bug''. [PJC]
11. An enthusiast; -- used mostly in combination, as a camera bug. [Colloq.] [PJC]
{Bug word}, swaggering or threatening language. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: bug of temperate regions that infests especially beds and feeds on human blood [syn: {bed bug}, {chinch}, {Cimex lectularius}]
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0